Air Freshener Presence
by oceanole
Summary: Yamagishi is just a rumble of mess in Shougo's mind. Kiryuu/Saki one-shot


Recently fallen in love with these two dorks.

''

 **Air Freshener Presence**

''

Taking out his shoes, Kiryuu Shugou flatly passed some children running here and there. Some of them let out high-pitched laughter and pushed each other whilst running. It looked dangerous, they could end up crying. He sighed, why were kids this age so hyperactive? Shouldn't they just stay put and if forced to, mumble some words to ask for milk or something? He wasn't supposed to think about this, though. What he regarded as normal might be a bit different from other kids in general anyways.

He wasn't going to get used to this kind of atmosphere, so he usually took the other way, ready to walk longer in order to avoid the 'childishness' of the front gate. He meant, sometimes he would be _greeted_ by other kids. What good would he gain by greeting back? He wouldn't call himself a selfish kid, he was just being honest to himself. Besides, no one got hurt because of him, so it was fine.

But there was a spot in one corner of the school that never missed his glance. Ah, as expected, there went that look again.

Yamagishi Saki sat on the floor, staring at her beaten shoes.

Shougo didn't bother to pause to look at her continually nonexistent effort.

''

Next morning, Shougo paid more attention to the class. That meant he stopped pretending to be asleep. Instead, he opened one of his eye once in a while to glance at one of his classmate, Yamagishi Saki. She came a little late today, so the whole class laughed at her. She pretended not to hear all that stupid laughter. She was odd, as Shougo agreed to himself. She didn't cry, nor did she try to stand up for herself. This attitude made her even the favorite target for the bullies. Her small figure didn't help either.

The grey–haired girl attempted to make notes of what the teacher was saying, but then she pushed the end of her pencil to her chin as if she had forgotten what she was about to write down. She frowned as deep as her blank face could frown, but the next second, she blinked twice at her book as if she didn't know what she was stressing about. So, she attempted to make notes of what the teacher was saying again.

Seeing the futile attempt over and over somewhat made Shougo irritated. She couldn't do anything right, could she?

He sighed and played sleep again. He was done watching a sad movie for the day. He bet when he passed his usual way home, he would see the same scene at one corner of the school as per usual.

He was right.

''

"Shougo, you are not doing anything? Can you help me buy milk and flour at the minimarket?" shouted Ms. Kiryuu from the kitchen. "I'm going to make pancakes for dinner, so please do it soon!"

Said boy limped around on the couch for a good three minutes before finally approaching his mother to ask for money. He then went with a bicycle. He had thought about going on foot, but he intended to laze around a bit longer, and walking wasn't a good choice to achieve that.

Moreover, walking would make his mind wander to random things. Like why didn't his mother ask for his sisters' assistance or like Yamagishi Saki's little effort to change her life. It must be a pain in the ass to be bullied simply for being something she could do nothing about, is it not? It was not her fault for being small and forgetful.

It wasn't like she wanted to be born like that.

"Hahh," Shougo sighed. "Not like it's my problem," he reminded himself. The little boy parked his bicycle and bought the milk and flour, but not without noticing a particularly petite figure at the intersection of the minimarket, Yamagishi Saki. Speaking of the devil, eh.

It seemed like she was comprehending something. Shougo would leave it at that, but he contradicted himself and paused at the glass door. He observed silently as the girl headed towards the dairies section, only to be backpedalling back to the intersection not long after. She walked to the medical sections before coming back to square zero.

 _What on earth is she doing?_ Shougo wondered. It had been five minutes she had been repeating her actions. It was getting hard to watch.

When Saki was about to reach for a toothbrush, Shougo asked, "Are you sure it's what you're looking for?" From what he concluded, toothbrush was too much of a far thing if it was supposed to be between dairies section or medical section.

Saki was surprised, so she exclaimed, "Ah." She picked up the toothbrush from the floor, she didn't recall loosening it from her grip… The teal greyish-haired girl intended to pay for it before she heard someone asking her choice.

A little annoyed of the fact that he was just being ignored—well, he was used to it, but this time, he actually _initiated_ —so, he blurted, "Hey, I asked you a question."

He was? She titled her head a bit to look at the boy in front of her. Being short was a thing about her, but this boy was also exceptionally tall for kids their age.

Their age? Were they in the same grade?

"Are we in the same grade…?" she inquired. It bothered him how she wouldn't let herself speak a little louder. It was as if she were scared.

It bothered him even more that Yamagishi didn't know that they were in the same grade, in the same _class_! No wonder people picked on her, she was this annoying. Shougo was about to get away from there, yet there was something in the girl's next question that made him halt.

"Maybe…?"

Uncertainty. One thing that people with immature ways of thinking had. He hated it. Why was Yamagishi in the verge of crying? Shougo answered at last, "Yeah."

Saki visibly blinked for a while—twice—before exhaling hard. What was she so nervous about?

Saki stopped her glossy eyes, and proceeded to wear a blank face. Looking up to meet his eyes, she muttered a very slow, "Thank you." She paused, Shougo waited, long enough to make him sigh thrice. "Very much."

He swore that she almost smiled.

"Why are you thanking me?" he questioned as he ushered her to buy what she needed, which he found was intriguing because she had a hard time remembering what it was.

"Because you reminded me that we are in the same grade," she replied, taking a chili sauce into her basket. "I always forget people's names… that's why they dislike me."

Yamagishi Saki left him a bunch of questions he didn't care to know about. Did she even realize that they were in the very same class?

''

The following day, Shougo tried to make eye contact with Yamagishi, but upon seeing him, Yamagishi's only response was to do nothing. She looked at him just like she looked at anyone. He sighed, and proceeded to sleep in the class.

When time to go home arrived, he almost didn't see Yamagishi at her usual corner. This time, it was her books that were ripped. He paused, but he didn't know what to do about it, nor did he actually care. He simply happened to know things he didn't need to know.

So he left.

''

Next Monday, the teacher pointed Yamagishi Saki to finish the mathematics problem on the board. She couldn't do it, she kept repeating the same step. The entire class teased her for being 'slow' and then laughed until the teacher finally told them to stop. The whole time the incident occurred, Yamagishi only put up a black face.

 _She's holding back tears_ , Shougo noted. He almost hoped that she would cry, tell them that she was hurt, speak up her mind. But she didn't. It looked like she couldn't even care less about herself.

''

It had been months, and Yamagishi Saki was still loyal to her special spot in one corner of the school. One day, after seeing torn and beaten shoes, books, PE uniform, and now bag, he finally walked up to her.

She didn't seem to realize that Shougo was right in front of her. Her expression was plain blank, no more, no less. "Why don't you cry?" Shougo asked after being tired of waiting for Yamagishi to, at least, _sense_ his presence.

Registering the words, Saki turned her head away. "They will think I'm weak and dislike me more," sighed she.

"That so?" Did she really think that they picked on her because she kept forgetting their names? It could be one possibility, but here, it wasn't the case. It was her being slow, small, and never fighting back that they made fun of her. She didn't realize all that?

Saki sobbed, but no tears fell from her eye. "Yes, I've always been like this. Maybe if I wasn't this forgetful—" _forgetful? So that's why she's always so clumsy_ Shougo thought—"I wouldn't make my classmates hate me so much. It was my fault all along, so I shouldn't cry."

Almost got distracted by the fact that Yamagishi Saki managed to sob, he thought it over. Had it ever occurred to her that they might be doing this just for fun? Could this kind of unsuspecting innocence even exist? "And so?"

Saki forced herself into his eyes. Or so he felt. "I'm used to it anyway…" she muttered.

Shougo kept silent. Maybe it was her snot or something, but Shougo simply went home after that.

The next day, she found a workbook in her shoe rack.

Elementary School kids life shouldn't be a pain in the ass. Yamagishi just had it harder than the others did. He also wasn't sure whether to call her innocent or dumb. Watching someone like her could ruin his mental health, if this kept going on, sooner or later he would end up involving himself anyway. Better get it done now. Though, he didn't know what would she become if he did this. Oh, well.

See, his idea of normal wasn't quite normal itself.

''

Btw, I suggest the manga. There are more Shougo/Saki moments there.

I kinda lost my point in this fic…

So, any thoughts?

05/05/2017 ~NollyLvn


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